I got a lot of fun camera toys on my Summer 2007 trip to my folks' place in Ohio (tripod, monopod, GPS unit, Katz Eye, high-resolution tablet), but the first thing I played with was a $5 item that allowed me to mount my Sigma 30mm f/1.4 on the camera backwards, thereby yielding an unwieldy but powerful (yet cheap) macro setup.

I later wrote about the basics of reverse-lens macro photography, including the challenges, but when I first got the adapter ring that allowed me to give it a try myself, I didn't have much more than the raw enthusiasm of wanting to try it; I wasn't yet weighted down by the reality of how difficult it can be.

The enthusiasm and some basic instruction came from having seen Mark Dijstelberge's blog and postings on Digital Photography Review. His results are amazing.

The results of my first try were less so.

Mark mostly takes pictures of bugs. I don't like bugs – they give me the creeps – but Mark turns them into works of art. I wanted to try.

As I eventually wrote on the reverse-lens basics post, there are some major challenges: getting enough light on the subject to focus and make an image, controlling the lens aperture, placing the ultra-thin depth of field where you want it, and getting close enough (within an inch!) to the subject to allow a shot without them flying away or stinging you.

I rigged up something to get light from the on-camera flash around the edge of the lens to in front of it, using coat-hanger wire, tape, tin foil, and wax paper. It was comical. It was even more comical to see me try to use it, all the while using one finger on the front of the lens to control the aperture. “Awkward” doesn't even being to describe it.

I went and tried to photograph some bugs, and didn't have very good results. I found the pencil to be an easier subject.

After the summer, when I got back to Kyoto, I posted a few macro shots (a “What am I?” macro quiz, some pesky burrs, and Stupid Macro Tricks), but having run across these photos yesterday in my Lightroom library, I thought I'd share some from my first macro attempt, poor quality and all.

WARNING: BUGS BUGS BUGS BUGS          If you don't want to see bugs, stop here.

Hey, I warned you there'd be bugs.

More than a year later, I still don't have a real macro lens. The reverse-lens bit is too much trouble to go through very often, but especially that first time, it was fun trying.